St. Lucia launches new island-wide internet access project

The St. Lucia government has launched its island-wide network project (GINet) aim at reducing the information gap between rural and urban areas.

A government statement said that the four-year project is an Island-wide internet access improvement initiative which seeks to bridge the digital divide and to provide local and wireless network areas in public zones of towns and villages across the island.

Under the initiative, 63 Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in mostly rural areas, providing local people with free Wi-Fi access.

The project was undertaken with the assistance of the Taiwanese government and according to the country’s ambassador to St. Lucia, Douglas Shen, the Far Eastern country has completed several information, technology and community (ICT) projects here, assisting relevant government departments to upgrade their computer management systems for civil registry, agricultural monitoring, electronic official documents, and crime prevention.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dominic Fedee and Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour Minister Stephenson King, who were present at the launch, praised Taiwan for its long-term friendship, adding that they were confident that local business and the tourism industry would benefit tremendously from the new initiative.